11.29.2006

With the eagerly awaited debut of Nau's blog, The Thought Kitchen and the upcoming debut of Patagonia's new blog "The Cleanest Line" (rumored launch of December 4), it's clear that two of the most inflluential eco-lifestyle brands of the last gazillion years see blogs as hugely important to their future marketing strategy.

Consider also that Backcountry.com -- arguably the most influential outdoor retailer in Internetland -- has devoted a full-time staffer to their own blog at The Goat, (the clearly underpaid and soon-to-be-famous Rocky Thompson); that the Huffington Post has announced that they will do their own reporting on the 2008 presidential campaign; and that even my father-in-law, a man who i personally introduced to an ATM machine, now knows what blogs are, and you start to realize that blogging isn't just the domain of cranky curmudgeons and long-tentacled PR firms.

'Tis the season to crank out some serious word count. And the man of the hour is our dear friend Doug Whatshisname. No member of the outdoor community has ever had a name so hard to spell, and so easily massacred. In hopes of helping us all through this very challenging time, we've compiled a brief selection of options for the pre-show pitch fest.

11.21.2006

Last year, Outdoor Industry Association rolled out a very cool concept ... the Innovator Award. It's sort of an "MVP of Merino" thing, where they're putting some effort into thanking one of the crowd for helping freshen up the place.

Think through the last year, and I guarantee you that we all agree on who that award recipient should be. Without a doubt, this brand has changed the way the OI population thinks, acts and markets. And the winner is

11.20.2006

That giant hissing sound you hear is the air coming out the outdoor industry's anti-obesity strategy.

As painful as watching a teenager mix Red Bull with perfectly good vodka, the ironic growth of virtual athletics almost directly parallels the OI's soft targeting of the “obesity epidemic.” In so many words, the harder the OI attempts to rally around making fat people thinner through nordic walking, the easier it seems to be for e-companies to capture the hearts and souls of the inactive generation.

One reason might be the sensation of pandering that targeting fat folks feels like. It's so clearly a sales strategy, rather than an advocacy strategy, you know? The conversation has yet to touch on the challenge of how to really move the needle and increase the average American’s fitness level. Instead, it hovers around the base goals of selling more product. And for a niche driven sports market like ours, that’s simply not good enough.

Jackson Hole will name a premium line off the Headwall after Doug Coombs, honoring his memory in a way that just seems fitting.

What's interesting is that the chosen run ... and please correct me if i'm wrong ... is near the area (if not the exact area) where Doug had his legendary showdown with one of the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol back in the early 1990s. As I recall, Doug ducked the rope on the skier's left edge of the Cirque to access the area, and the infamous "Dr. No" was waiting there for him and revoked his season pass privileges.

It was an unfortunate moment for JHMR, as they found themselves obligated to stand by one of their employees who was just doing his job, against a skier who was almost singlehandedly elevating the status of Jackson Hole skiing to world-class calibre. However, the incident also elevated the conversation about the legitimacy of lift-access backcountry. It caught the attention of newspapers and magazines. It dominated the conversation in the Jackson Hole community. And it proved, once again, that Doug Coombs was a trailblazer.

11.01.2006

Bob Burnquist has built the world's largest backyard toy ... a giganto skateboarding ramp that is "approximately 360 feet long."

Here's more .. "the ramp is 75 feet high at its apex. That is where riders begin their run, speeding down a 180-foot-long roll-in to a ramp that launches them across a 70-foot gap with trapeze netting below. Landing on a 27-foot sloped section, they then boost up to 50 feet above the ground from a 30-foot quarterpipe. A shorter route begins with a 55-foot-tall platform leading to a 50-foot gap, and the 30-foot quarterpipe."